Legal Niches

In Taiwan, City Officials Demand Game Rating Enforcement

By gamepolitics

Officials in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, are demanding that the city government draft legislation requiring retailers and cyber-cafe operators to adhere to game content ratings.

As reported by the Taipei Times, Chinese Nationalist Party councilors Lee Yen-hsiu and Chin Li-fan led the call for rating enforcement. Lee commented:

Many of these online games are rated restricted or have even been banned in other countries such as South Korea and Australia, but our kids can easily purchase these games. Are we living in anarchy in Taiwan?

Chin told the newspaper that an amendment expected to pass later this year would ban sales of mature-themed online and single-player games to younger players:

The amendment would require Internet cafes and shops that sell computer software to stop selling restricted online games to teenagers, but it does not stipulate any fine for businesses that refuse to cooperate. This is a passive regulation.

The Times cites statistics showing that video gaming among Taiwanese teens jumped from 62% in 2006 to 88% in 2009. Better than 10% of teens said they stayed up late to play.

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on May 13, 2009 (boomark / email).